Saturday, 14 February 2015

Ins or Outs?

To many, outs are a last resort, or what they use for baking or other concoctions.
While ins, are what they hold up as trophies of great gardening.

We're talking about Cannabis again by the way :)

Odd really ... there are still many who say that no light or lighting system can give the plant what the Sun, Moon, and Stars can give her. This philosophy resonates with me.

Either way one thing is true. Indoor growing and this super-sterile idea that Cannabis must be hidden while it's grown, is why and how we're killing our environment faster than we suspected.

Have you ever wondered what the energy output of the 15 LP's is?
Have they hired the right peeps to convert that energy to a more affordable form?
My hunni knows control engineering so I know this is done in big factories to save energy.

I mean, in an effort to A). protect society from a plant with zero deaths, B). maintain super-sterility, and C). to control the environment 100% ... we're burning more coal than we need to. That's a fact.

I do get it though, the Sun in all of her radiating greatness can be too much sometimes. I've all but killed certain houseplants by leaving them in the Sun's rays for too long. But Cannabis, when grown outdoor will easily adapt itself. It will ooze resins and make more chlorophyll to act as sunscreen and ray-repellent.

I can't wait til Cannabis is legal so studies can be done to see which way creates better cannabinoid content and profiles! I've even heard about some elusive Cannabinoid that I believe goes by the acronym CBV that is full of wonder. It seems to come out of nowhere ... or does it? Does the Sun's mojo shower certain plants with this willy-nilly? Or do special conditions make it so? I'll keep you posted as the studies and evidence comes in.

It's stated in this articlefrom EarthTimes.org, that "indoor cultivation alone is responsible for releasing greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 3 million automobiles." Yikes.

Lights, fans, hydroponic watering equipment ... all of these things must be powered by something, and for now that something is coal.

So that means in energy factories, they burn coal, oil, sludge, or nuclear rods to boil water to make steam to move a turbine.

Unbelievable isn't that? Let's do that again:

Burn something
Boil water
Create steam
Move turbine

Holy shit ... asinine.

Back to cultivation, let's consider the water. Ah yes water. Did you know that you and I pay more money for water than we do for fuel to run an automobile? A D@sani at my work is $3.50 for a few hundred ml's!!

The phrase "work smart; not hard" comes to mind when I think of water and indoor Cannabis cultivation. I don't know for sure, and I don't think the info is public to confirm, but I think many of the Canadian licensed producers for MMPR are still growing in soil. In this recent Fifth Estate show on CBC, Mark Kelley gives us a glimpse inside two of the fifteen LP's in Canada, Tilray and Tweed and both were still growing the dirty wasteful way.

Hydroponic systems are so easy to make that an afternoon visit to Home Depot could supply a gardener with all that they need. Aeroponics may be a bit more difficult and expensive, but all-in-all it's not rocket science! Plants don't need soil to grow. And yet the "experts" in the current Canadian field of Cannabis horticulture are still using something that hides microscopic mold spores and mite or parasite eggs very well. Not to re-mention the fact that water is precious right now ... say it like Smeagol :) It's proven daily somewhere that hydroponics and aeroponics are the sustainable option as water is completely recycled and re-used.

Is this why the LP's are always out-of-stock or incinerating useful medicinal plant material?
Is it really as simple as bringing them out of the dark ages of gardening and into the light of day?

Why can't we meet in the middle on this? I get that nature can be harsh. Oftentimes, the outdoor flowers I've been gifted by friends are dark and sometimes battered looking. I don't judge a flower by it's look though. Wind, rain, and all of the power of nature makes the plant do what it must to protect itself. Think grain of sand and pearl. Now that's a different perspective. Could this self-preservation and protection that the plant practices, actually make a higher cannabinoid ratio and content? Some would argue. Some would also argue that they will only ingest flowers from plants grown in soil.

The future of Cannabis cultivation is a combination of the two in my hopeful opinion: adaptable outdoor greenhouses with solar lighting and banked energy for all of the needs of the plant ....